Matthew Chambers, who covers Oldham Athletic for the Oldham Chronicle, reckons the Latics can inflict a rare home defeat on Crewe Alex (Saturday, 3pm).

The Railwaymen have lost just one in 11 at Gresty Road and could slash Oldham's advantage over them to just one point with a victory.

But Jamie Davies found out that Chambers is confident Oldham can avenge the Boxing Day defeat they suffered at the hands of the Alex.

JD: Do you reckon this could be a close one?

MC: Probably. Oldham will probably set out in quite a solid fashion to try to stop the flow of goals conceded. I expect Dean Holden wouldn't be too unhappy to return with a 0-0 draw given the run of six defeats in the last seven.

JD: What are you most looking forward to when you visit Gresty Road?

MC: The high vantage point means you get a good view of Jodrell Bank on a clear day, which is always good if the football gets dull. Ditto the train station and the famed chippy nearby.

JD: Crewe Alex have lost their previous games with Preston and Bristol City by quite a margin, in your view does that put Oldham as favourites?

MC: No. Bristol City and Preston are the two most physically powerful sides in the division, with the sort of cash to spend on their squad that others can only dream of. If confidence has been hit is any way by those defeats, Oldham's has too by three straight losses.

JD: Athletic are currently six points clear from the relegation zone, are they safe? Or do they still have a lot of work to do?

MC: There is still some work to do. Another two wins are probably required and with a host of injuries - at the time of writing, eight players are missing with one ailment or another - it promises to be a grind to the season's end. Real danger is still some way off on the horizon, though.

JD: The last clash was Boxing Day which saw Crewe's Nicky Ajose score both goals to win three precious points, will Oldham manager Dean Holden want his men to pay extra attention to him?

MC: Ajose is a lively player at League One level and there are no managers at this level who won't know all about him. He did very little other than score at Boundary Park, so there is no room to relax.

JD: Sticking with Holden, the manager has not had the best of starts at Oldham?

MC: Jake Kean, George Elokobi, Joseph Mills, James Wilson, Liam Kelly, Jacob Mellis, Amari Morgan-Smith and Dominic Poleon: there are eight good reasons why Steve Davis is facing Oldham at the right time for his side. Holden has been very limited in his selection options due to injuries.

JD: Which players should the Gresty Road fans and players look out for on Saturday?

MC: Carl Winchester is the shining light in terms of players who are fit. He glides rather than runs, at some pelt too. He is a full Northern Ireland midfielder and a scorer of a handful of great goals, rather than a great, prolific goal scorer.

JD: What are your predictions for this Saturday's encounter and please tell us why?

MC: It will be a scrappy 1-0 win for Oldham, coming by way of a 97th minute own goal. Because Dean Holden deserves some luck.